So here we are again, the Hurricanes have lost five games in a row and seem to look worse after every game. Instead of showing progress, the Canes keep developing more bad habits and are digging themselves into a bigger hole with each loss. I was hoping that Monday's loss to the Penguins would be the low point of the season but the Canes haven't shown any progression since then and now find themselves stuck in a downward spiral. It doesn't matter how much Muller shakes up the lines or how much the team works on their problems during practice because it doesn't mean anything until we start to see better results.

It might be only November and 14 games into the season but all of us are fed up at this point. The fans are sick of hearing about losses, I'm tired of writing about them and I'm sure the Hurricanes are ten times as frustrated as we are, especially after how last year ended. They know they need to improve and that efforts like the last five games aren't going to get the job done, but will they get out of this rut before it's too late? Only time will tell.

I wish I had more answers but this team's play has gone downhill so much compared to last year and I'm not sure if they have enough depth up front or in goal to get through this stretch without falling too far out of the race. There have been other teams who turned their season around after much worse stretches (Washington, Phoenix, San Jose, etc.) but I don't have much confidence in the Hurricanes with the way they are playing right now.

If this chart looks familiar, it's because this game was very similar to the Hurricanes other two losses. Their initial game plan was good and they looked strong for most of the first period. Even after Carl Hagelin made it 1-0, the Hurricanes were creating a lot of pressure and playing most of the game in New York's zone. They then flat-lined in the second period and the Rangers took over the game after Hagelin's second goal, which came after a failed power play might I add. The Hurricanes did a lot of good things in the third period, but the game was over by then and the Rangers added a couple more goals for good measure. In other words, this was pretty much a repeat of the loss against Tampa Bay only with a more lopsided score.

Scoring Chances

Period

Total

5v5

PP

5v3

SH

3v5

4v4

1

3

5

3

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

3

9

0

4

3

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

3

9

7

9

7

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Totals

15

21

12

14

3

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

The Hurricanes got their only goal in the second period but that might have been the worst 20 minutes of hockey they played all season. They created no chances at even strength and allowed New York's power play to run all over them. They couldn't sustain any pressure in the offensive zone and found themselves in a 3-0 hole before they finally woke up late in the period. We've seen this movie before and I'm sure everyone is sick of the ending by now.

Hurricanes Individual Scoring Chances

#

Player

5v5

PP

SH

4v4

4

Andrej Sekera

16:29

3

5

1:30

0

0

2:11

0

3

0

2

7

Ryan Murphy

18:11

6

5

2:08

3

0

0:02

0

1

0

2

11

Jordan Staal

14:24

6

4

1:30

0

1:26

0

0

0

2

12

Eric Staal

17:50

7

4

2:08

3

0

0:48

0

2

0

1

14

Nathan Gerbe

14:44

3

5

1:44

0

0

1:11

0

0

0

0

15

Tuomo Ruutu

14:30

0

7

1:41

0

0

0:06

0

0

0

0

16

Elias Lindholm

13:49

3

4

1:57

3

0

0:06

0

0

0

0

19

Jiri Tlusty

9:50

1

3

1:30

0

0

0:58

0

0

0

0

20

Riley Nash

11:23

1

2

0:00

0

0

1:32

0

1

0

0

21

Drayson Bowman

8:01

2

2

0:00

0

0

0:00

0

0

0

0

22

Manny Malhotra

10:03

2

3

0:09

2

0

1:28

0

1

0

0

27

Justin Faulk

16:43

4

6

1:10

0

0

2:33

0

3

0

1

28

Alexander Semin

16:06

8

3

2:28

3

0

0:16

0

1

0

1

39

Patrick Dwyer

13:13

2

2

0:00

0

0

0:42

0

1

0

2

42

Brett Sutter

8:15

2

3

0:00

0

0

0:00

0

0

0

0

44

Jay Harrison

15:09

3

5

0:00

0

0

0:16

0

1

0

1

65

Ron Hainsey

20:04

6

4

0:00

0

0

2:18

0

1

0

0

73

Brett Bellemore

17:10

2

3

0:00

0

0

1:56

0

1

0

0

35

Justin Peters

51:50

12

14

3:38

3

0

4:29

0

4

0

3

Best EV Forward: Alex Semin +5

Worst EV Forward: Tuomo Ruutu -7

Best EV Defenseman: Ron Hainsey +2

Worst EV Defensemen: Andrej Sekera & Justin Faulk -2

Muller stacked the deck by putting Jordan Staal on the first line with his brother and Alex Semin and while that trio didn't score, they were basically Carolina's only source of offense last night. These three accounted for 7-8 of the Hurricanes even strength scoring chances and none of the other forwards did much at all. Gerbe & the fourth line created a couple chances but it was nothing consistent and the "third line" did absolutely nothing. Loading up the first line isn't a bad idea with the Canes starving for goals, but their forward depth takes a huge hit when they go with this approach.

Rangers Individual Scoring Chances

#

Player

5v5

PP

SH

4v4

4

Michael Del Zotto

16:45

3

1

1:02

0

0

0:00

0

0

3

0

5

Dan Girardi

17:03

5

7

0:05

0

0

2:08

0

3

0

0

6

Anton Stralman

18:05

6

4

0:06

0

0

1:30

0

0

0

0

10

JT Miller

10:34

0

3

1:38

0

0

0:00

0

0

0

0

14

Taylor Pyatt

11:21

1

3

0:05

0

0

1:13

0

0

0

0

15

Derek Dorsett

12:00

5

3

0:00

0

0

0:27

0

0

0

0

16

Derick Brassard

15:19

3

3

1:30

0

0

0:00

0

0

1

0

17

John Moore

16:13

2

1

1:20

0

0

0:00

0

0

1

0

18

Marc Staal

17:48

6

4

0:10

0

0

1:30

0

0

1

0

19

Brad Richards

15:50

4

4

2:54

4

0

0:00

0

0

2

0

20

Chris Kreider

12:15

4

5

2:46

4

0

0:00

0

0

0

0

21

Derek Stepan

10:45

4

2

2:56

4

0

0:29

0

3

0

0

22

Brian Boyle

14:37

4

3

0:06

0

0

2:25

0

3

0

0

27

Ryan McDonagh

17:52

6

7

3:21

4

0

1:53

0

2

1

0

36

Mats Zuccarello

11:10

5

1

2:59

4

0

1:28

0

0

0

0

40

Brandon Mashinter

8:12

0

0

0:00

0

0

0:00

0

0

0

0

62

Carl Hagelin

16:13

8

4

0:17

0

0

1:14

0

0

2

0

67

Benoit Pouliot

13:49

4

5

1:10

0

0

0:00

0

0

1

0

30

Henrik Lundqvist

51:53

14

12

4:29

4

0

3:38

0

3

3

0

Best EV Forwards: Mats Zuccarello & Carl Hagelin +4

Worst EV Forward: JT Miller -3

Best EV Defensemen: Michael Del Zotto & Marc Staal +2

Worst EV Defenseman: Dan Girardi -2

Carl Hagelin had a field day. Despite not getting any power play time, he was on the ice for 10 total scoring chances and Vingeaul wasn't afraid to double shift him when he had the chance. He has been a possession monster since entering the NHL and the Hurricanes got a first hand look at that. No one can replace Rick Nash, but Hagelin, Zuccarello, Stepan and Brassard helped did enough to make up for the loss last night.

Head-to-Head at Five-on-Five

Alain Vingeault had some interesting matchups going on last night, as he used Brian Boyle's line against Staal. That line ended up losing the battle, but rest of New York's forward corps destroyed the Canes second and third lines. That's the risk you take when you decide to load up the first line, especially against a coach who likes to protect his top-six.

5v5 Zone Entries

Hurricanes

Player

# of entries

Shots generated

Carry-ins

Shots generated

Dump-ins

Shots generated

Failed Entries

Sekera

5

2

1

2

4

0

0

Murphy

2

1

1

1

1

0

0

J. Staal

7

6

3

3

4

3

0

E. Staal

4

3

3

3

1

0

0

Gerbe

3

1

1

1

2

0

0

Ruutu

5

1

2

1

3

0

2

Lindholm

3

0

0

0

3

0

1

Tlusty

4

2

3

2

1

0

0

Nash

3

2

1

0

2

2

1

Bowman

7

3

4

3

3

0

1

Malhotra

5

6

3

3

2

3

0

Faulk

3

3

1

3

2

0

0

Semin

4

0

2

0

2

0

0

Dwyer

4

1

3

1

1

0

0

Sutter

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Harrison

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Hainsey

3

1

0

0

3

1

0

Bellemore

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

Team

63

32

28

23

35

9

6

How many more games of dump-and-chase play are we going to see before Muller realizes that it isn't working well? Sure, this strategy can work for some teams, but the Hurricanes don't really have the personnel to be the kind of team whose forecheck is based on puck retrieval. It was nice to see some of the guys in the bottom-six carry the puck in more, namely Malhotra & Bowman, but the rest of the team really needs to improve here. I was hoping that Eric Staal would have more zone entries since he was playing the wing here, but Jordan did most of the work in the neutral zone and was way more conservative than he usually is.

Rangers

Player

# of entries

Shots generated

Carry-ins

Shots generated

Dump-ins

Shots generated

Failed Entries

Del Zotto

2

2

2

2

0

0

0

Girardi

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Stralman

1

1

0

0

1

1

0

Miller

2

1

2

1

0

0

0

Pyatt

4

2

0

0

4

2

1

Dorsett

4

3

4

3

0

0

2

Brassard

6

2

2

1

4

1

0

Moore

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

Staal

2

0

0

0

2

0

0

Richards

7

4

2

1

5

3

1

Kreider

2

2

1

2

1

0

1

Stepan

2

1

1

1

1

0

0

Boyle

5

4

1

2

4

2

0

McDonagh

4

0

2

0

2

0

0

Zuccarello

4

3

2

2

2

1

1

Mashinter

2

0

0

0

2

0

0

Hagelin

7

5

7

5

0

0

1

Pouliot

2

1

1

0

1

1

1

Team

57

31

27

20

30

11

8

Stepan is going to get first star honors for his hat trick, but I thought Carl Hagelin was New York's best player and this chart reinforces that claim. He led most of NYR's zone entries and was responsible for a good chunk of their offense at even strength. Derek Dorsett also had a surprisingly good game in terms of zone entries.

5v5 Zone Exits

Hurricanes

#

Player

Pos.

Touches

Carry

Pass

Other

Turnover

Icing

4

Andrej Sekera

D

16

0

2

0

0

0

7

Ryan Murphy

D

12

3

3

0

0

1

11

Jordan Staal

R

7

3

2

0

0

0

12

Eric Staal

C

7

1

2

0

0

0

14

Nathan Gerbe

C

6

1

1

0

1

0

15

Tuomo Ruutu

C

6

2

0

0

1

0

16

Elias Lindholm

R

1

0

0

0

1

0

19

Jiri Tlusty

C

8

2

1

0

0

0

20

Riley Nash

C

6

0

1

0

0

0

21

Drayson Bowman

C

1

0

1

0

0

22

Manny Malhotra

L

4

0

0

0

0

0

27

Justin Faulk

D

19

1

1

1

2

0

28

Alexander Semin

R

7

1

1

0

1

0

39

Patrick Dwyer

R

1

0

0

0

0

0

42

Brett Sutter

L

4

0

1

0

1

0

44

Jay Harrison

D

10

0

3

0

1

0

65

Ron Hainsey

D

25

0

5

3

1

1

73

Brett Bellemore

D

16

1

1

1

2

2

Watching the Hurricanes breakouts this year has been maddening because of how inconsistent the individual performances are. Depending on the game, Faulk & Sekera are either excellent or terrible at exiting the zone and they were the latter last night. Meanwhile, Ron Hainsey was able to get the play moving in the right direction more times than not and the team's best puck-moving defenseman, Murphy, barely touched the puck in the defensive zone. Like I said, maddening.

Rangers

#

Player

Pos

Touches

Carry

Pass

Other

Turnover

Icing

4

Michael Del Zotto

D

18

0

2

1

3

1

5

Dan Girardi

D

19

0

1

1

2

1

6

Anton Stralman

D

17

0

2

0

2

1

10

JT Miller

C

6

2

1

0

1

0

14

Taylor Pyatt

L

7

1

2

0

0

0

15

Derek Dorsett

R

3

1

0

0

1

0

16

Derick Brassard

C

5

2

1

0

0

0

17

John Moore

D

10

0

3

1

0

0

18

Marc Staal

D

20

2

1

1

0

1

19

Brad Richards

C

5

2

0

0

0

1

20

Chris Kreider

C

5

1

1

0

0

0

21

Derek Stepan

C

5

0

0

0

1

0

22

Brian Boyle

C

11

2

2

0

0

0

27

Ryan McDonagh

D

23

0

1

0

3

1

36

Mats Zuccarello

C

12

1

1

0

0

0

40

Brandon Mashinter

L

7

2

1

0

2

0

62

Carl Hagelin

L

8

0

2

0

0

0

67

Benoit Pouliot

L

14

1

2

0

1

0

For a team that won 5-1 and won the battle at even strength, the Rangers breakouts sure were ugly. Granted, most of their turnovers came in the frist period and they played a large part of the game in Carolina's zone, but I still expected their results to be a lot better. Marc Staal & John Moore were their only defensemen who successfully advanced the puck more than 20% of the time and even their forwards numbers are kind of underwhelming. Their play in the other two zones made up for it, though.